Electric-lighting system



{No Model.)

G. GIBBS. ELECTRIC LIGHTING SYSTEM. NO. 449,474. Patented Mar 31,1891.-

Manes.-

gggw %m UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

SrEORGE GIBBS, Oh MILVAUKEE, WISCONSlN.

ELECTRIC-LIGHTING SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 449,474, dated March31, 1891.

Application filed August 14, 1890. Serial No. 362,000x (N0 model.)

To (1 whom it" may concern;

Be it known that I, GEORGE GIBBS, of Milwaukee, in the county ofMilwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain Improvements inElectric-Lighting Systems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference more particularly tothe lighting ofrailway-trains and to that system in which the current is supplieddirectly to the lighting-circuit by a dynamo.

In practice it is found that in the use of the ordinary system the carsare frequently left in darkness by an interruption of the circuit due tothe breaking of the train accidentally or during the addition or removalof cars or to the failure of the steam-supply, or to other causes.

Myinvention is intended to provide an auxiliary lighting system whichwill come into action automatically during any temporary interruption ofthe main circuit; and to this end it consists, essentially, in thecombination, with the main lighting-circuit and its means of electricsupply, of a storage-battery charged therefrom, a secondary lightingcircuit operated from the battery, and means for automatically severingthe connection between the main circuit and battery and establishingconnection between the battery and secondary circuit during anyinterruption of the main circuit.

The details of the circuits and controlling devices and the arrangementof the lamps may be variously modified, as will appear to the skilledmechanic after reading this specification without departing from thespirit of my invention or changing essentially the mode of operation.

Mysystem may be extended through allthe cars in a train; but I haveconsidered it suf= ficient for illustrative purposes to prevent in thedrawings a diagram representing the sys tem complete for a single car.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the dynamo orgenerator, B Bthe main conductors or circuit=wires leading therefrom and extendedcontinuously through the suc cessive cars of the train, and C theintermediate incandescent lamps arranged in par allel.

D represents a storage-battery or aecumn later of any approved form,having its terminals connected by conductors (Z (Z to the main circuit.This battery, beingintended for telnporary' use only, is usually ofsmallsize, and the resistance in the cireuitis so adjusted that thebattery will be charged during the action of the main lamps by thecurrent of the main circuit. Between the battery and the main circuit Iinsert one or more lamps H, which serve not only as a part of the mainlighting system, but also as a resistance to limit the rate at which thebattery is charged and prevent injury thereto.

E represents an auxiliary or secondary lighting-circuit containing oneor more lamps F and connected with the storage-battery.

G represents avibrating switch or relay op erated by its eleetro-magnetgQlocated in the main circuit. \Vhen the circuit is complete, the magnetholds the switch in its elevated position, (shown in full lines in thedrawings) so that the circuit from the main line through the battery iscomplete, while the circuit from the battery through the secondary lineis interrupted. Under this the normal condition of the parts the currentderived from the generator is transmitted in part through the main lampsand in part through the storagebattery, which is thus automaticallycharged. If in any manner the main circuit is interrupted, so that themain lamps fail in action, the switch-magnet 9 being discharged willrelease the switch, allowing the same to drop to the position shown indotted lines, the effect of which will be to establish connection fromthe storagebattcry to the secondary lamps F, which will afford atemporary illumination, the connection between the storage-battery andthe main circuit being at the same time interrupted, so that thedischarge of the battery may be confined to the secondary circuit.

In applying the above-described system to railway-cars the dynamo orgenerator will be ordinarily located at the forward end of the train andoperated by an engine receiving steam from the locomotive, and the maincircuit extended thence rearward through all the cars on the train, asin the present system. Each car will be provided with a storage battery,secondary lightingcircuit, and switch, as herein described. By thisarrangement each car will be given a system for tomporarily lighting itentirely independent of the main system and of the system on the adjacent cars, so that the cars may be separated from each other and fromthe source of steamsupply for short periods of time without danger oftheir being in darkness.

It is to be noted that under my organization the storage-battery ischarged from the usual main light-leads C O, and that the neoessity fora special charging-lead from the dynamo is avoided. It is also to beobserved that as my main lights are arranged in the main circuit inparallel I am enabled to make use of ainain current of comparatively lowvoltage and to charge my battery therefrom without danger of itsdestruction and without the-employment of a high and wastef ulresistance as would be necessary were the battery charged from ahigh-tension current used in lamps in multiple series.

In my system the batteries in the different cars will be connected intothe main circuit in parallel, each in series or multiple series with oneor more of the main lamps H, and

it thereforefollows, in accordance with the law 0 E R, that the currentflowing through the battery can never exceed the normal current usedtolight the'lamps, and that it will grow less in proportion as the batteryoffers increased resistance and counter electro-motive force in thecircuit. Thus it is that my battery is made self-regulating as to thecharging action, and the necessity of a useless orwasteful resistance ineither circuit avoided.

What I claim is- 1 1. In an electric-lighting system, two main loadsfrom the generator and the main lights connected to and between saidleads, in combination with a storage-battery, conductors connecting saidbattery with the two leads,

a resistance in' one of said conductors between the battery and the mainlead, an auxiliary circuit containing lamps and-connected with thestorage-battery, and an automatic switch mechanism, whereby the batteryis held normally in circuit with the leads and the auxiliary circuitheld open, but on the cessation of the current through the main circuitthe auxiliary current is completed through the battery.

2. In an electric-lighting system, a generator,main-circuitleads-therefrom, and lamps lighted from said leads, incombination with a storage-battery, conductors connecting the same withthe aforesaid lighting-leads, one or more lamps between the battery andthe main lead to serve as a resistance, an auxiliary circuit connectedwith the battery and containing lamps, and a switch mechanism adapted tocomplete the charging -circuit through the battery, and at the same timeinterrupt the auxiliary circuit or interrupt the charging circuit andcomplete the auxiliary circuit, as occasion m ay'd'emand, whereby theauxiliary lamps may be kept out of action and the battery charged fromthe main circuit during the action of themain lamps, but the batterydischarged through the auxiliary lamps in the event of the failure ofthe main lamps.

In'an electric-lighting system, the generator, the main leads therefrom,and the main lamps connected with said leads, in combination with thestorage-battery and the lamps H, through which the battery is con-,nected with the main leads, the auxiliary circuit and its lam'ps,-andthe magnetic'switch controlled by the main circuit and-acting to closethe two circuits alternately through the battery.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand, this 4th day of August,1890, in the presence of two attesting Witnesses.

GEORGE GIBBS.

Witnesses:

C. DARBY,- HERBERT 0. BIRLER.

